


colored death

by mysterytwin



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen, mild swearing, platonic soulmate au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-06-03 14:24:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6614119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysterytwin/pseuds/mysterytwin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everybody talks about how beautiful colors will be once you see your soulmate. But nobody talks about how blank the world becomes when you lose them. </p><p>What starts with a funeral, ends with a search for her supposedly dead brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. prologue

The first five minutes of Mabel’s life were in black and white. From the small fraction of a second that she opened her eyes and took a glimpse of the world to the moment she heard another person crying, everything had no color. That is, until her eyes met with another pair of brown eyes, identical to her own. 

The world was washed with color and the girl let out a small squeak of excitement. One very evident color was blue (it was the very first one she saw) and Mabel loved it. She could see so many colors, everywhere she looked, different hues and shades surprised her.  

Her eyes met with the reason she saw these colors and Mabel smiled. Whoever he was, she was grateful.  

His name was Dipper and he was her twin brother.  

As the two grew older, there was a game they liked to play. Whenever they saw a new color, they would have to name it. It was if only the two of them could see it—as if the color was _unique_ to them. Who knew there were so many shades of green? Yellow? Orange? 

But _blue_ and _pink_ —they had the most.  

They had each other’s back when no one else did. They were two sides of a coin, almost like yin and yang. If there was a Dipper, there was a Mabel. They were their own person, of course, the other complementing the other’s best traits. Together, they were a whole, an unstoppable team of logic and creativity. They were the Mystery Twins.  

And the mystery seemed to follow them wherever they went. It brought them closer, the trust building up between the two getting stronger and stronger. Sometimes, it was also their downfall.  

There were times when the colors dimmed. Those were the worst times of Mabel’s life. It only ever happened when her and Dipper got into a fight; it only happened when things went sour between them. She got scared when blue dimmed, always the last to fade. Would she get it back once it was gone? Was that how it worked? Would she ever see colors again? 

But Dipper and her always resolved their problems and soon, all the colors would return.  

There was one time they didn’t. It scared her.  

Even in Mabeland, no matter how bright and cheerful everyone said it was, Mabel couldn’t see any color. There were faint traces of blue every so often, but that was it. No color.  

But she was Mabel Pines and creativity and color came out of her like words she didn’t know existed came out of her brother. So she _pretended_ to see the colors that were non-existent through her eyes, she pretended to smile even when the hollow feeling of a colorless world haunted her.  

The moment her eyes connected with Dipper—the real _Dipper_ , not Dippy Fresh—the blues surrounding her seemed to get stronger. As he spoke and as her heart rose, the colors slowly returned. To both of them.  

When they hugged and made up, the world was once fully in color again. Mabel watched in awe as the walls painted themselves pink and yellow, the carpet doused in pink, and the hat on her brother’s head forever blue.  

“It’s nice to see the colors again. I forgot how pretty pink can be,” Dipper whispered in her ear as he took his sister’s hand.  

Mabel nodded in agreement. “I missed you, bro bro.” 

Once more, they were the rhythm of one another, the light whenever it was the other’s darkest.  

On the ride back to Piedmont, there was so much purple. It was everywhere—in the sky, on the lenses of Grunkle Ford’s glasses, on the flowers next to Grunkle Stan’s feet, in the trees that surrounded them. It was such a beautiful sight that Mabel cried. (Even the _bus_ looked pretty.) 

It was a sight that she and her brother would never forget—forever painted in beautiful colors in their memory.  

The colors never dimmed for either of them as much as it did that summer ever again.  

(At least, that's what Mabel thought.)


	2. silent graves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts with mourning and ends with a goodbye.

Mabel finally knew what a world without color felt like. She’d heard about it from her friends, her ex-boyfriends, and her family—but _this_ , this hollow and empty feeling inside her chest, was something she couldn’t have imagined. 

There was only one time, twelve years ago, when the color had faded so much. It was during an apocalyptic summer, and even then, there had been a few small flecks of color here and there. But now, they were all gone. 

Mabel would never see color again. 

Everybody talks about how beautiful colors will be once you see your soulmate. But nobody talks about how blank the world becomes when you lose them. 

She tried to keep the colors in her memory, tried to remember how each thing was colored before it all slipped away. How was she supposed to be Mabel Pines—a cheerful girl full of creativity and _color_ —if she couldn’t even see it?  

Mabel sniffled once more, the tears never stopping. Thunder roared in the distance, and she shuddered. It felt like the world had stopped without him. 

Dipper had always been with her in her happiest and darkest times. He was there to comfort her when she was dealing with the traumatic events of the apocalypse. He was there when she experienced her first real heartbreak, comforting because her ex-boyfriend cheated on her. He was there when she graduated college, standing and grinning right next to her. He was there when she found nicer, better friends that wouldn’t leave her once they saw the opportunity. He was there when no one else was. 

But now he was gone—and she had _no one_.  

The funeral had ended hours ago, but Mabel had stayed. She just sat there as the guests left, the clouds darkened, and the trees whistled for rain. She remained unmoved until the only person left was her. They spoke about his death, how he had supposedly died in a car crash. An unfortunate accident, the doctors had called it. But Mabel knew Dipper, and she knew he wouldn’t have died like that. There was something—or _someone_ —behind it. 

And she wouldn’t rest until she found out who. But for now, she would mourn. 

Thunder and lightning crossed the sky and Mabel hugged herself even tighter. Her black sweater didn’t keep her as warm as she wanted it to. 

It was so difficult because the only person she wanted to talk about everything she was feeling to was Dipper and he was gone. She hadn’t even been able to say goodbye.  

“Dipper?” she said softly. “Dipper, I know you can’t hear me, but I—”  

Her voice cracked as she burst into another set of tears, unable to stop herself.  

“Why did you leave? There’s so much we haven’t even done together. Remember our plans to join the circus when we were older? What happened to that, huh? We were supposed to go to Greece for our birthday next year! You said you wanted to see the Panther? What was it called—Parthenon?—I can’t remember, but you get my point, don’t you? We were supposed to have this gigantic cake and we’d share it! We had _plans_ , Dipper! No one ever asked you to leave—” she wiped another tear. “ _I_ never asked you to leave, so why did you?” 

She hugged herself even tighter, feeling the sky start to drizzle above her. It didn’t matter. _Dipper_ did. 

“You were my best friend, Dipper! You were my partner, my bro bro, the only person I knew I could trust! You’re the only one who never gave up on me! You’re family! Couldn’t you see I still needed you? You told me once that when the world went against us, we would fight _together_! But we can’t fight together if there’s only me left, can we? Mystery Twins is _plural_ , Dipper! Not singular! I thought grammar was your thing, why didn’t you think about that? A pair of twins works with _two people_ , not one!” 

“Dammit, Dipper!” she screamed at his grave as the rain started to pour harder. “Couldn’t you have stayed? I would give up everything— _everything_ —to have you back, so can you please come back now? I need you, Dipper! You’re my soulmate! I can’t do this without you!  I don’t care if I never see color again, _I just want you back_!” 

The sky rumbled as lightning flashed through and Mabel cried. She cried harder than she ever did before because her stupid brother was gone and no magical fairy could fix that. She was alone with no one to fight the threats of the world alongside her. 

“Do you remember that time in fourth grade when I gave you a huge heart that said you were my favorite brother?” she whispered, shaking uncontrollably. “Do you remember how I would wake you up every morning by tickling you? The first time I pretended to be Mr. Upside-Downington? When we bought Dippin’ Dots for the first time and I splattered it across my face? Do you remember when you came to my dorm just because I was sick with a slight fever? How happy I was when you visited? Do you remember those times, Dipper?” 

Mabel stood up, her knees weak. She tried wiping her face, but what was the point? It was raining anyway. 

Her bones ached inside of her, and her body ached for sleep. But how could she sleep when her brother was gone? Sleepless night after sleepless night was all she got now that he would never return. 

“I’ll miss you, Dipper. I always will,” she said finally before turning around and walking away, soaked to the bone.  

She walked out of the cemetery, feeling as lonely as ever. With no one by her side—her parents dead, her Grunkles long gone, and her friends a no-show—Mabel Pines was alone. It was hollow in her chest, like a patch of emptiness waiting to be filled up even though it never would be. Soulmates were your other half. Now that her half was gone, what was she supposed to do? 

What good was a shooting star when she herself couldn’t even grant her own wish? 


	3. pink mugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts with a cold morning and ends with a realization.

There were five stages of grief. Denial was the first one, and unfortunately for Mabel and everyone else surrounding her, she was stuck there. Dipper _couldn't_ possibly be dead. 

The wind blew harder that morning, and Mabel hugged herself even tighter as she lied on her bed, curling herself into her bedsheets like a cocoon. She didn't want to face the world as it appeared to her now, cruel and horrible for what it had done to her. For what it had done to _Dipper_. 

She had hoped that when she woke up, the colors would be back. The wave of crushing disappointment was slightly unexpected when she opened her eyes and saw the world the same way a baby would: black and white with no trace of color. 

It hit her hard, the cold truth about her brother and how she'd never get him back. She'd grieved before, of course—for her grunkles and her parents. But for some reason, this time felt different. It wasn't the usual emptiness that she felt in her stomach. It was the cold realization that the person who was always there to comfort her when she needed it was _gone_. 

She stood up and it hurt to do so, her legs cramped from staying in the same position for two hours straight. She bit her cheek when she walked outside her room and saw that Dipper's door was open and the room was empty. She tried not to cry as she ate breakfast alone, all the Mabel Juice on the table just for her. 

After a cold bath to numb herself, Mabel lied down on her bed, unsure of what to do that day. What was there to do? She had taken a leave from her summer job at the community center to teach kids how to paint, so she really had nothing else to do. She didn't _want_ to do anything, anyway. 

Even Waddles didn't feel like doing anything. She felt him climb on the bed and snuggle against her, squeaking softly. Mabel sighed. 

"Dipper's _gone_ , Waddles. He's not coming back." 

As much as it painted her to say it, she knew the truth. She would never be able to get the past back, as much as she wanted to. (She'd learned the consequences of wishing something like that so strongly before.) 

"The FBI are coming today, too, aren't they? To question me?" Mabel said aloud, knowing Waddles wouldn't know the answer, much less speak to her. "Why would they need to? Dipper's done nothing wrong! Well, he _did_ raise zombies once, but that was nothing! They know that!" 

She vaguely remembered the FBI approaching her at the hospital, asking if they could have an interview with her the day after the funeral. She didn't even know _why_ they cared about Dipper's death. 

She groaned, covering her head with a pillow. She didn't want to talk about him. It would only bring the hurt back. The house, very much like herself, felt empty. 

She felt another tear roll down her cheek as Waddles let out a soft squeak. 

"Yeah, I miss him, too," she whispered. "So, so much." 

* * *

The FBI came a few hours later to question her about Dipper's death. Mabel sat on her bed, her legs crossed and fingers fumbling with one another. The man from the FBI sat in front of her, a blank expression on his middle-aged face. He had a notepad and pen in his hands, ready for the interview. His eyes were covered by sunglasses and he wore gloves. Huh. Villains usually wore gloves, didn't they? 

"You don't need to wear sunglasses, you know," Mabel said flatly, arms crossing. She didn't like this. She didn't like how the man looked (very suspicious by itself), and how the FBI thought they needed to have an interview about the things Dipper did in his spare time. 

"Ms. Pines, you know that isn't the topic of this interview," the man said, looking at her straight in the eye. "Pardon me, but I believe that I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Jason Funders, an agent in the FBI. I was at the top of all my classes, so you must understand that I expect that you show me respect—" 

"Just get on with the interview already," Mabel interrupted impatiently. " _Some_ of us want to spend the rest of the afternoon mourning about their dead soulmate, thank you very much." 

Jason looked a little annoyed at her interruption but decided to move on to the actual interview. "Alright, Ms. Pines." 

"Well, go _on_ ," she said. She was never one to find humor out of annoying someone, but she had never wanted to get something over with as much as this interview. 

He sighed softly and irritably. "Where did your brother say he was going before he died in the car crash? Earlier interviews with the police tell me that he was going to work, but that was it." 

"He works a night shift at this restaurant to earn money. He goes out every night, except on Wednesdays. That's when we have our movie marathons," Mabel explained. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying not to think about the clawing pain in her chest whenever she spoke about him. 

"Okay," he said, writing the information on a notepad. "Has he been doing anything suspicious lately? Staying up late?" 

Mabel shut her eyes and opened them again, shaking her head. "Not really, no. Dipper got insomnia a couple years back, so when he can't sleep, he just reads." 

A spark of curiosity gleamed in his eyes as he slightly leaned forward. "What does he read exactly?" 

What? Did he think Dipper read books about ways on how to murder someone? 

"Books. You know that series with the brothers and the capers? I can't remember the title, but that's what he usually reads," Mabel said, unfolding her legs and swinging them. She started to comb her hair with her fingers. 

He hummed, and Mabel wasn't sure of what to think about that. What was he thinking? Dipper was a good person, and as much as she wanted to believe he had died in a car accident, she knew he wouldn't have gone that way. There had to be something else…but what? 

"Why are you asking me these questions?" asked Mabel. "Are you saying that you don't think Dipper died the way he did?" 

Jason rubbed his eyes. "To be honest, Ms. Pines, we think your brother was dealing with things he shouldn't have before he died. Do you believe in the supernatural?" 

She couldn't believe this! Dipper told her _everything_ he found out. Heck, all the illustrations in his journal were drawn by her! Sure, the two of them had their mystery trips from time to time, but it was never anything illegal! They'd never dealt with anything government-related! 

"What? Are you finally going to tell me that aliens exist?" she said jokingly. She had to play it safe. 

"Perhaps," he said, and Mabel's eyes widened slightly. Time to lie. 

"Are you seriously telling me that someone like you—a _logical_ agent of the FBI—actually believes that supernatural beings like gnomes and mermaids exist?" Mabel said disbelievingly, the irony almost making her smile. "Why, I thought you'd be better than that, Mr. Funders." 

The man looked slightly in shock, not knowing what to say. "I-it seems you're right, Ms. Pines. It's very silly of me to think that supernatural beings exist." 

"Then I think we're done," said Mabel with finality as she stood up. "Dipper died in a car crash, leaving me and his _normal_ life behind. If there's anything my brother did, it's not anything related to the supernatural. I would know." 

She walked with him out the door of the house, sporting a bright, cheerful, and forced smile. 

"Goodbye, Mr. Jason Funders," she said as he got into his car, looking very dumbfounded. "Have a lovely day!" 

After the car had left, Mabel walked back inside, feeling more tired when she woke up. 

Man, lying was _not_ her thing. 

* * *

A soft breeze swept through Mabel's hair as she sat on the swing on the porch if the house. In her hand was her favorite mug, filled with her favorite tea. Waddles laid on the floor next to her, sound asleep. 

Mabel knew that Dipper was dead. She'd _buried_ him in the ground! She's seen his body in his hospital, seen his bloodied body when she said her goodbyes. She'd been there, watching the color drain from her eyes as she made her way to the hospital, knowing she was too late. 

Then why did it feel like he wasn't dead? 

It pained her to think he was still alive somewhere. Why wasn't he coming for her then? They _were_ soulmates, weren't they? If he was alive, wouldn't her color come back? 

Mabel sighed, rubbed her eyes, and took a sip from her pink mug. 

Wait. 

Pink mug. 

_Pink._

She couldn't be imagining it. There was _no way_ she could be seeing color. Dipper was dead! She stretched her shaking arms in front of her, looking at the mug. It really was pink. She could see color. 

That meant Dipper really _was_ alive, didn't it?


	4. empty journals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts with licks from Waddles and ends with a clue.

A yawn escaped Mabel's lips as she dragged her feet towards the kitchen. She was exhausted after another sleepless night. Her eyelids felt heavy and she knew it wouldn't be long before she fell asleep in the middle of breakfast. 

It's just— _Dipper was alive_. That meant the _world_ to her. Her brother was alive and she would do _anything_ to find him. It still mystified her on how he had been dead (she had lost color because of it), and then suddenly, he was alive again. It was all so confusing. 

But she was glad, nonetheless. 

She sat down on a chair as she yawned again, closing her eyes for a slight second. It felt like someone was hitting her head with a hammer. When she reopened her eyes, she looked around, seeing pink everywhere. 

So far, it was the only color she could see. 

Mabel giggled when she felt Waddles rub his cheek against hers. She could see him perfectly—fat and pink. It was great. 

"Oh, Waddles," she said, smiling down at her pig, who was resting on the floor. She picked him up and placed him on her lap. "Dipper's alive. He's out there…somewhere." 

The pig made a noise between a squeak and a grunt, and Mabel put him back on the floor. She finished eating her cereal and gave Waddles some food as she went to shower. 

The search was going to begin today. 

After showering, Mabel wondered what to do. She tried remembering if Dipper had told her anything significant before he left, but nothing came up. He hadn't been doing anything peculiar either. 

She sighed, realizing that finding where Dipper was might be harder than she anticipated. It's not like he would leave clues or anything. 

_That's it!_ Mabel thought as she sat up abruptly, making Waddles move away from her feet in surprise. Dipper liked mysteries, didn't he? So that's exactly what he did. In order for Mabel to find him, she had to go on a mystery hunt. 

And she was going to start in the one place where Dipper wrote down everything he experienced after a mystery hunt. 

His journal. 

Mabel's eyes wandered to Dipper's door across the hall. She hadn't been able to enter that room since he had "died"; she didn't have it in her. 

She walked towards his door, hugging her sweater. She shivered, and the house suddenly felt colder than she remembered. Mabel knew he was alive, but could she really do this? 

She twisted the door knob slowly, her warm hand making contact with the cold metal. Mabel pushed the door open, looking around the room. 

It was as messy as she remembered it to be. There weren't many pink items in Dipper's room, so everything was mostly in black and white. The covers of his bed were undone, there were stacks of papers on his desk, and the lamp beside his journal was still on. 

"So that's what's been costing so much on the electricity bill," Mabel grumbled, her feet still planted before Dipper's door. 

There was no way she could go in. She couldn't do it. 

But she had to. 

And so she did. 

Mabel took one step forward, briefly shutting her eyes. When she reopened them, she took a deep breath and another step forward. And then another. 

It got easier with every step, her feet becoming lighter the further she walked into his room. Memories of spending the night on an air bed on the floor next to Dipper's bed flooded in. She remembered late night talks with him about life, sometimes serious (but mostly silly) ones, even. She remembered that one time they stayed up late eating marshmallows and cookies after a rough day at school for both of them. 

God, she missed him. 

She grabbed his journal, which was resting on his desk. Her fingers traced the constellation of the Big Dipper on the cover, fondly remembering the day he'd asked her to paint it for her. 

Sitting down on his bed, Mabel carefully opened the journal, seeing his messy handwriting. She read the first page, remembering the day he'd started writing in it. 

_My name is Dipper Pines. This is my journal. Well, that's quite obvious, isn't it? Anyway, this is where I'll be writing all my findings each time I encounter the supernatural. My sister, Mabel, will be helping me on mystery hunts. (She says hi.) Usually, you can't trust anyone when it comes to dealing with supernatural beings (such as demons), but I've learned a long time ago that I can always count on Mabel, no matter how silly she can get. Well, I think that's all I'm going to say for today. I'll be going on a mystery hunt (with Mabel) tomorrow, and hopefully, we won't die._

Mabel blinked. If he trusted her, why did he have to fake his death? Was it because the FBI were after him? Wouldn't he have told her why they were after him if he had known? 

"I'm really feeling the love, Dip n' Dot," she muttered under her breath. 

She continued to flip through the journal, sometimes reading excerpts that she had found interesting. There was even one about unicorns! 

_Man, I know a lot of things, but let me just say this: unicorns are not friendly. Mabel warned me about them, since she'd encountered them a few years back, but I didn't listen. She was right._

Ha! She'd warned him and she was right! Mabel vaguely remembered him coming home sporting a black eye and a broken arm. She had done her celebratory dance and saying "I told you so!" before helping him clean his wounds. 

She flipped through more pages, finally reaching the end. The rest of the pages were blank. 

_I've lived twenty-five years, and if there's anything I know, it's that I can't paint. Mabel tried to teach me today so I can lure a rare type of fairy (you have to place a really good painting near where it lives to lure it out of its home), but it's pretty hard. A painter (like Mabel) can be the one do it, but that might lead the fairy coming to her, and I want to see it up close, you know? It's a good thing we didn't choose my room to paint, but Mabel's instead. I don't think mine can handle all the mess (it would only result to it becoming messier). Anyway, Mabel wants me to try aga_

The words just stopped right there, mid-sentence. Mabel knew what he was going to say. They were supposed to try painting again the next day. 

But he never came back the night before. 

That was the night he had supposedly died. He'd written that on that day! It had to mean something, didn't it? 

But it seemed normal, like nothing was wrong with it. It seemed just like any other entry in his journal, written messily and slightly smudged— 

Hold on. 

Mabel _knew_ Dipper, and she _knew_ that he always tried not to smudge whenever he was writing. 

So what did that mean? It was a code? 

Mabel reread the entry, picking out all the smudged words this time. 

_I've lived twenty-five years, and if there's anything I know, it's that I can't **paint**. Mabel tried to teach me today so I can lure a rare type of fairy (you have **to place** a really **good** painting near where it lives to lure it out of its home), but it's pretty hard. **A** painter (like Mabel) could **be** the one do it, but that **might** lead the fairy coming to her, and I want to see it up close, you know? It's a good thing we didn't choose my **room** to paint, but **Mabel's** instead. I don't think mine can handle all the mess (it would only result to it becoming messier). Anyway, Mabel wants me to try aga_

She grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and wrote all the smudged words in the order she saw it. 

"This doesn't make any sense," Mabel told herself. "This was a stupid idea." 

She let herself fall back on Dipper's bed, her arms outstretched in front of her, the paper clutched in her hands. It didn't make any more sense that it did five seconds ago. 

She sighed—she wasn't going to get anywhere. She wasn't going to be able to find her stupid brother. She wasn't going to be able to hear his rambles late at night or wake up to find him drinking hot chocolate in the kitchen. She wasn't going to hear his jumbled up and big words and his midnight mumbles. Mabel tried not to cry as the hollow hole in her heart formed itself once more. It would make her happy if she could just hear his voice once more, even if it was just another stupid backward riddle. 

Wait. That was it, wasn't it? 

Mabel sat straight up, staring at the paper clutched in her hands intently. She read the words backwards. 

_Mabel's room might be a good place to paint._

And there it was. The first clue. 

She was glad she had found her first lead, but honestly, Mabel wanted to ask him one thing: 

What the heck?


	5. pretty paintings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts with a call and ends with an idea.

Mabel could see green again, and it was absolutely _wonderful_. It told her two things: one was that she couldn't really doubt that Dipper was alive anymore, and the other was that she was one step closer to finding her brother. 

She started seeing it when she woke up, the deep shade of it startling her when she saw it in the trees the moment she looked out the window. She saw it in the picture frames around the house, and in her multi-colored cereal (although she only could see two colors, it didn't stop her from buying her favorite brand of cereal). 

It made her absolutely happy to see another color again. 

Mabel walked outside to the porch, wanting to spend the rest of her morning staring at the trees. It was nice to see another color again. Maybe it would even help her find another clue. 

She had no idea what Dipper had meant. (She had even fallen asleep in Dipper's room thinking about it!) As far as she knew, he avoided going to her room because he thought it was too bright. Mabel had argued back, saying a little neon here and there never hurt anyone. 

Mabel liked to paint, but she didn't do it very often. Making sweaters usually took up most of her time, having to remake her collection after using most of them as parachutes for Weirdmageddon. (Now, she had thrice as much as she had before.) But when Dipper had asked her if she could teach him how to paint, she had said yes. One reason was because she secretly knew Dipper was _horrible_ at it, and there was no way she was going to miss a chance at embarrassing him. The second was because she loved spending time with him; it made her happy. 

Mabel's phone buzzed on the table beside the swing, and it took her little effort to reach it. She stretched her hand, grabbed the phone, and checked who was calling. 

_Pazzzzzz_

_Pacifica!_ Mabel thought with excitement. It hadn't been long since she'd spoke to her, since she was there at Dipper's funeral, but it still made her happy to hear from her. 

Excitedly, she pressed the button to answer the call. She placed the phone to her ear, ready to greet her friend. 

"Hi, Pacifica!" Mabel said loudly, happily greeting her. 

"Hey, Mabel," she replied. She didn't sound as happy as Mabel did, a little sad maybe. "How are you?" 

"I'm good!" she answered. She realized that Pacifica didn't know about the clue Dipper had left her and how she was regaining her colors. Most importantly, she didn't know Dipper was alive. "I…I've got something to tell you. It's important." 

She could trust Pacifica. Mabel knew that. 

"Oh, alright. But I called to tell you something, too," Pacifica said, her tone serious. "It might not be as serious as what you're about to tell me, but it's important, nonetheless." 

"You can go first," she told her friend, biting her lip. How as she going take it? It's not everyday you find out that one of your supposedly dead friends is actually alive. 

The other end of the line was silent for a moment before Pacifica continued. "How would you feel if I told you that I'm the new mayor of Gravity Falls?" 

" _What_?" Mabel asked, surprised. She couldn't believe it! "Pacifica, you didn't tell me you were running!" 

"Yeah, well, I was kind of the only candidate so…" she trailed and Mabel almost fell off her chair in excitement. 

"Pacifica Northwest, mayor of Gravity Falls! Paz, this is great! You'll be an awesome mayor, I tell you! Oh, this is wonderful!" 

Pacifica's voice became softer, more vulnerable. "You really think so?" 

"Think so? I _know_ so! If I was right next to you right now, I would totally be hugging you!" Mabel exclaimed. "You'll be the best mayor ever!" 

"Thanks, Mabel. That means a lot," Pacifica told her, and Mabel could tell she was smiling. "Anyway, enough about me. What were you going to tell me?" 

"Oh," Mabel said, her voice growing softer. "I'm not really sure how you're going to take this but—" 

"You're not pregnant, are you?" interrupted Pacifica, sounding a little worried. 

"No! Of course not!" exclaimed Mabel. She made a slightly disgusted face. "Why on earth would I be pregnant?" 

"Whatever," she muttered. "Just making sure." 

"Pacifica…" Mabel started softly. "Dipper's alive." 

" _What_?" she asked, sounding very, very surprised. "He can't be! Mabel, we _buried_ him in the ground! He can't be alive!" 

"Pacifica—" Mabel tried to say. 

"You can see color, can't you?" she asked, her voice turning soft. "That's why you think he's alive?" 

"Yeah," she said. "I can see pink. There's more to it, actually. I've been trying to find him, so I went through his journal yesterday. And guess what I found? A clue! You know how Dipper can be really careful when writing, right? So on the last page of the journal, a couple of words were smudged! So I thought that maybe it's something! But then it didn't make sense, so I was stuck. I was thinking about Dipper and how he can never make sense and stuff, then it hit me! I put the words backwards, and you know what it said? Mabel's room might be a good place to paint!" 

The line was silent as Pacifica absorbed all the information. "Wow. That's very… _Dipper_." 

"Then I woke up this morning and I could see green! Now I'm sure I'm getting closer to finding him!" exclaimed Mabel. 

"That's great! I'm still trying to get the whole 'Dipper's actually alive' thing, but I'm really happy for you. I would love to help, really. If I could, I would take a bus and head over there right now, but I've got mayor duties to do. Update me whenever something happens, yeah?" 

"Of course!" Mabel said. "You know I will." 

"Well, I've got to go now, but it was really nice talking to you, Mabel," she said. 

"Wait, Pacifica!" Mabel said before her friend could hang up. 

"Yeah?" 

"Don't tell anyone about Dipper, okay? Not until I find him. I just don't want to lead anyone on in case he isn't really…alive." Mabel's smile slightly dropped from her face at the thought of losing her brother _again_. 

"Yeah, okay. Of course, Mabel," Pacifica said, voice reassuring. "I'm sure you'll find him. Just tell me if you ever need my help, okay?" 

"Okay," Mabel said, her eyes downcast. "Bye, Paz." 

"Bye, Mabel," Pacifica said before hanging up. 

She sighed, placing her phone on her lap. She was going to find Dipper, even if she had to search the entire world. She had to. 

Mabel stood up and walked to her room. She figured that it was the best place to start, since he had mentioned her room in the clue. 

There was only one painting in her room. It covered the entire ceiling, so it was always the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes in the morning. Mabel remembered the day she and Dipper had painted it. It was a painting of a forest, with stars splattered across a dark blue sky. A shooting star was placed at the center, along with the constellation of the Big Dipper next to it. Mabel had fallen asleep while they were painting it, and when she woke up, she found that Dipper had already finished it. She still remembered the proud look on his face when she said she loved it, as it was the only painting he had ever done that wasn't too bad. 

Mabel lied on her bed, staring at it. There was really nothing that seemed out of the ordinary when she looked at it. She hugged a pillow, staring at the trees. It reminded her a lot of the pine tree on top of Dipper's old hat. 

She remembered that one (of many) mystery hunt that they had went on when they were twelve. Mabel remembered how every silly thing she did was how they'd discovered each clue. She remembered making a paper hat, only to find it was a map. She remembered looking at a statue upside down, only to have it pointing to where they needed to go. She remembered all those things, but they didn't help her get anywhere near solving the clue. 

Mabel started getting bored a few minutes later, still having no idea on what Dipper had meant. She started to form patterns in the stars that they had painted, making shapes and patterns. 

Then she saw it. 

(Well, she formed it, really.) 

There was a small constellation of an arrow, a little above the trees. It was pointing downward, as if it was referring to the trees below it. And that, gave Mabel an idea. 

What if Dipper was hiding out in a forest? That seemed pretty logical if you were trying to hide, right? Maybe that's where he was! And Mabel knew that there was only one forest that Dipper knew like the back of his hand. 

_The Gravity Falls forest._


	6. frustrating forests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts with a bus ride and ends with a letter.

The thought of going back to Gravity Falls is weird, to say the least. But it's home, and it's what Mabel's always treated it as. She's used to all the supernatural things in her life, but right now, there's only one mystery she wants to solve. 

A bus trip to Gravity Falls was arranged the next morning, and Mabel wasn't sure if she was more nervous than excited or more excited than nervous. It certainly felt like she was going back home, but something felt _off_ , and it kept her on the edge. It was strange to think that she was so close to finding where Dipper was. 

The next peculiar thing that happened was that the closer the she got to Gravity Falls, the more colors she could see. When she got on the bus, she had stumbled her way to a seat because out of the blue, she could see yellow again. When they finally passed the boundary of Piedmont, she could see purple again. And right now, Mabel was struggling on how to come to terms with the fact that she could see red again. 

So maybe Dipper really was hiding in Gravity Falls. 

A part of her chest started to hurt because Dipper had left her to hide out on Gravity Falls. Their _home_. The least he could've done was take her with him. She was _so_ going to have a talk with him about all this mess when she found him. 

Dipper Pines didn't know it, but he was going to be completely _screwed_ when Mabel found him. 

The proud satisfaction of it didn't leave Mabel for the rest of the bus trip. There were only a couple of people on the bus, most of them occupying blank stares and empty silence. There was one kid who kept crying to his mother because he wanted ice cream. 

_These people are going to the wrong place if they want just ice cream_ , Mabel thought to herself. _If they're lucky, they won't have to fight off a demon._

"Next stop," the driver announced, his voice gruff. "Mystery Shack!" 

Mabel felt her heart bounce. She was almost there. Almost home. 

A few moments later, the bus started nearing the Mystery Shack. She watched as the trees started to form a familiar pattern, and before she knew it, the bus came to an abrupt stop and there they were. The Mystery Shack. 

And as she looked out the window, (not so, but it still made her heat race) surprisingly, she could see orange again. 

One more color down and Mabel grinned. She walked out of the bus, carrying her bag with her. She breathed in the smell of pine trees and a hint of gasoline, standing just a few feet away from the Shack. She heard the bus leave behind her, as she was the only person who wanted to go to the tourist trap. 

The Mystery Shack looked like it always had, with only a few more damages that would need repair here and there. The 'S' on the roof was still in its proper place, a mistake they'd left on purpose. Mabel knew Soos loved the place and always tried to keep it in good shape. As she stepped onto the porch, the floorboards creaking beneath her feet, Mabel tried to calm her nerves, excited to see her old friends. 

She opened the door, jingling the bell, and seeing the inside of the shack for the first time in two years. 

Behind the counter were Soos and Melody, both chatting away before they noticed her standing there. 

"Dude!" exclaimed Soos when his eyes landed on her. He quickly moved in front of the counter to wrap his arms around her. Mabel returned the hug, suddenly remembering that she was already the same height as him. "I didn't know you were coming so early!" 

Once they let go, Mabel could see what the effects of aging had done to him. Although thirteen years didn't seem to have changed much of his appearance, she could tell he'd been through a lot while she was away. There were more wrinkles on his face and he was actually starting to grow a beard. His shoulders slacked more, and there was a hint of darkness around his eyes. 

"Yeah, well, I couldn't wait to come!" she explained cheerfully. She turned around, seeing Melody. Mabel engulfed her in a hug, giggling. "How's the baby?" 

Melody grinned at her, placing a hand on her stomach. "He kicked for the first time yesterday." 

"That's great, you guys!" she congratulated. She felt like she wouldn't stop smiling. 

"Not to be rude or anything, dude, but why are you here again? Shouldn't you be resting? You know, since Dip—" he paused, taking a deep breath. Dipper's death had taken a toll on him, too, of course. "Since he died." 

Mabel figured that she would explain it all to them soon. Not now, not when she just got there. 

She didn't really meet his eyes. "That's kinda why I'm here, Soos. Gravity Falls is my home. It was Dipper's too." 

"Oh, I just remembered!" Melody said suddenly, breaking the silence. "You've got to see the latest attraction! Soos keeps telling me that you'll love it." 

Mabel smiled. Going back to Gravity Falls was one of the best decisions she'd ever made, even if she was only there to find Dipper. 

* * *

After a call from Wendy the next day, who had heard from Soos that she was in Gravity Falls but couldn't visit because she was busy working in another country, Mabel felt happier than she did a few days ago. Although Candy and Grenda were away too, she could always talk to Pacifica. 

But today, she was going into the forest. 

Just as she finished packing all the things she thought she needed—her trusty grappling hook, a flashlight, rope, a pen, her phone, a thermos full of Mabel Juice, and Dipper's journal—which she found in various places in the Shack, Mabel went to eat breakfast with Soos and Melody. 

"Hey, guys," she greeted, sitting down. Laid before her were scrambled eggs and a piece of bacon. She looked at Melody, who was sitting in the chair next to her. "If you ever need help anywhere, like preparing breakfast, I can always help." 

"It's okay," replied Melody, giving her a warm smile. "Soos can handle it. But if the supernatural comes knocking through the door, we'll call you." She smiled sweetly at her husband, who was wasn't paying attention, but instead was concentrated on finishing his eggs. "Soos?" 

He looked up. "Huh?" 

She shook her head, smiling to herself. Mabel smiled, remembering the day the two had found one each other, finally finding their soulmates. 

"Oh, dude," Soos said, looking at her. "I forgot to ask, are you gonna go look for him today?" 

Mabel smiled a little. She'd told them last night, figuring that they might as well know the real reason she was there. They'd been at the funeral, too. "Yeah," she picked up a piece of bacon with her fork, "I just hope that I do find him today." 

"Do you want me to come?" asked Soos. "We can close the Shack for today—" 

"No!" Mabel exclaimed, standing up as her hands were pressed on the table. Her eyes widened as she realized what she was doing and sat back down. "I mean, no, it's okay. I don't want to put you in more trouble, and the Shack is your life. I can't let you close the Mystery Shack, even if it's just for a day. And—" she paused, "Dipper's _my_ soulmate. I have to be the one to find him." 

Soos looked a little shocked, but nodded his head. "I understand, dude." 

She smiled, standing up. "I think it's best if I leave now. To start early, so that I get more land covered before night." 

Mabel wasn't too far to be unable to hear Soos's "Man, Dip's death took a lot out of her, didn't it?" 

She couldn't disagree. 

She grabbed her backpack, slung it over her shoulder, and left the Shack. The scent of trees and the outside world engulfed her as she stepped outside, heading into the forest. 

Mabel kept walking, having absolutely no idea where she was going. The greens of the leaves and grass, they were all so overwhelming. Leaves crunched under her feet as she moved forward. She had to duck to avoid branches and leaves kept getting stuck in her hair. 

Minutes of aimless wandering, she grabbed Dipper's journal out of her backpack. She flipped through the pages, but saw nothing that was useful. 

But she had to keep going. There was a dumb guy out there that she needed to find. 

She sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Her backpack seemed to be weighing her down. 

Suddenly, something caught her eye. From afar, she could make out the shape of a deer. _Cool!_ she thought. At least it wasn't all so boring. 

She tried to walk closer, staying as quiet as possible. Once she got a better view, hiding behind a tree, she realized that it _wasn't_ a deer. 

Well, it had the body of a deer, but it had the face of a goat. 

She gasped, grabbing the journal and trying to see if there was anything on it. There wasn't. 

Cursing silently, Mabel wondered if she should approach it. She didn't know if it was dangerous—what if it could breath fire? But what if it let out butterflies? 

She could always run, right? 

Taking a step out of her hiding spot, Mabel walked nearer to it, her hand raised in front of her. The goat-deer sensed her immediately, staring at her. 

"Hey, there," Mabel said softly, taking another step forward. "You're not dangerous, are you?" 

It didn't seem to move, so Mabel took that as her cue to take another step forward. She noticed that it kind of even looked like Gompers. 

Carefully, she placed her hand on the creature's nose, slightly between its eyes. Realizing what Mabel was doing, its eyes turned black and it growled. 

Immediately taking off her hand, she took a step backward. It didn't breathe fire, so that was a good thing. 

After Mabel decided that she really didn't want to risk her life until she found her brother, she backed away slowly. Once she was far enough, she turned around and continued to her normal pace. 

A part of her hoped she wouldn't have to run into more creatures. 

* * *

Her phone had buzzed earlier, showing her a message from Pacifica. 

_got some info on the FBI you might wanna know. i'm going to swing by the shack tomorrow._

She didn't know whether it was good or bad news, but at least there was _something_. It might help with her search. 

Sitting down on a log, Mabel was writing about the deer-goat in the journal. She'd already finished the illustration of it. 

_Hi! Mabel here! I have no idea where Dip N' Dot is, so you'll have me for today. Anyway, while I was trying to find him in the forest, I met a deer. Well, I thought it was a deer at first. Turns out it was actually a deer-goat! It had the body of the a deer, but the head of a goat. (It was really weird.) I don't think it's very dangerous, since it didn't breathe fire at me or anything. I like to think it's a calm creature! Well, that's all I have today! Bye!_

She sighed as she put the pen down. It was almost nighttime and still she had found nothing. It was frustrating. Tears were starting to stream down her face as she covered her head with her hands. 

What if she was wrong? What if her colors came back, but Dipper was still dead? What if that arrow in the painting meant nothing? What if the smudges in the journal were simply mistakes? What if she'd gone out there, in the middle of a forest, only to find out that her brother wasn't alive? What if he really was gone? 

Out of frustration, Mabel grabbed a rock and threw it a near tree. It hit with a _clang!_ which was odd. Trees were made out of wood, not metal. 

Looking at the tree, and standing up, Mabel walked towards it, feeling the place where the rock had hit with her palm. She knocked on it with her knuckles, only to hear the same sound. Sliding her fingers, she felt a gap. Pulling, the metal opened like a cabinet. Inside, there were a bunch of switches. Mabel randomly flipped them, unsure of what would happen when suddenly, a piece of ground opened up near her, forming a hole. 

That was when Mabel realized that this was the place where Dipper found Journal 3. 

She walked slowly towards the hole, hands shaking when she saw there was a piece of paper inside. She grabbed and carefully unfolded it. What was written shocked her more than the deer-goat. 

It was a letter addressed to her, dated the day after her brother's funeral. 

And it was from Dipper.


	7. favorite books

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts with a letter and ends with more determination.

_June 19, 2025  
Gravity Falls, Oregon _

_Mabel,_

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being a bad brother, and I'm sorry for leaving you. It doesn't matter if you never forgive me, I just want you to know that I had to do it. I'm sorry._

 _Dipper_

* * *

After she had read the letter almost ten times already, Mabel could still feel the anger that was coursing through her veins. He's _sorry_? If he really was sorry, he would've told her where he was! He would've told her his plan! He wouldn't have left her! If he was sorry, he wouldn't have done this to her! 

Dipper was alive, he was _out there_ , but it didn't seem like he wanted his own _sister_ to find him. 

More importantly, that was _it_. There were no more clues. That was what her search had led to—a short letter confirming her brother was alive, but had no intention whatsoever of showing her where he was. 

(This also led to another question that had occurred to Mabel once or twice in the middle of the night, although she had always forgotten it in the morning: what—or _who_ — had they buried into the ground during the funeral?) 

Placing a pillow over her head, Mabel screamed into it, trying to let her frustrations out. 

The letter lay beside her; not once ever since she found it did she let it out of her sight. It was too important. Her fists clenched beside her. Why couldn't he just let her do this? Why didn't he want her to find him? 

What was so important that he had to fake his own death? 

There was this small part of her that was relieved—Dipper _wasn't_ dead. She had confirmation of that. It was even in his own messy handwriting. It kind of felt like receiving an acceptance letter to a university in the headmaster's handwriting. 

But _how could he_? How could he strip his sister from her sight of colors, let her think he was dead? How could he lead her all the way to Gravity Falls, give her hope, when in truth, he didn't want to he found? 

Dipper Pines, she realized, was the most frustrating and annoying soulmate a person could ever have. 

Lights streamed through the window, colors mixing with one another through the glass. It was pretty, although she was still missing some colors. She listed down in her head all of the colors she could already see: pink, green, yellow, red, purple, and orange. That was only six. She would be able to see a lot more colors of she could find Dipper. 

It wasn't just about the colors, of course. 

He was the half of her! Her best friend—her twin brother! Dammit, he was her _soulmate_! People search their whole lives for their soulmates, and some never even find them! There are seven billion people on this planet, all separated by seven continents and one hundred and ninety-five countries, and she was lucky enough to have her brother as her soulmate! She didn't even have to look for him because he was always _right next to her_! He was always by her side whenever she needed him! 

Didn't he understand that? 

Once she found him, she was going to show him how lucky they were. She was going to show him how much he meant to her. 

* * *

Pacifica came by a few hours later, busy with trying to make Gravity Falls a better town. After a hug and a loud "Congratulations! You're going to be the best mayor ever!" from Mabel, she was ready to tell her friend what she had learned. 

"How did you get that information anyway?" asked Mabel, her legs swinging on the edge of the her old bed. The blonde was still reading the letter, sitting on Dipper's old bed. 

She looked up from the piece of paper. Smirking, she replied, "Are you forgetting who I am? I'm _Pacifica Northwest_. It only took a few hundred dollars for them to let me look around Dipper's case. They marked it completed, by the way. They think he has nothing to do with the paranormal." 

She tilted her head to the side, slightly confused. "Then why did you say you had important stuff to tell me?" 

"Oh," she started to look through her bag. "I managed to take something from them. Took a little bit of distracting, but I got it." She held up a book, and passed it to Mabel. 

She quickly read the cover, recognizing the book immediately. "The Case of the Stolen Capers? Dipper loved this series." Her eyes widened when she saw the small print of Dipper's name on the first page. Her eyes snapped back to Pacifica. "How did they get this?" 

She shrugged. "I have no idea." 

Mabel flipped through the pages, seeing a few words that were highlighted. She noticed that they were all in different colors. 

"Also," Pacifica said, catching Mabel's attention once more. "I learned a few things about Dipper's case." 

"Go on." 

She ran her fingers through her hair, breathing in deeply. "The first time the FBI kinda grew wary of Dipper Pines was in August 2023. They caught him trespassing on private property. It was a forest of some kind, which attracted Dipper, since the people living in the surrounding area complained about someone stealing their fences," she shot Mabel a quick look. "Don't ask me about that, I have no idea what those creatures are." 

She looked at her friend with the same expression. "I wasn't going to. I was just wondering why he didn't tell me this." 

Pacifica's eyes softened for a brief second before moving on. "Anyway, Dipper excused himself by saying that he thought he saw some rare bird and wanted to take a picture. That's a lie, obviously. But the FBI took it, a miracle, really. Then in July 2024, Dipper was caught trespassing _again_ , this time on a farm of sorts. Excused himself by saying he was just wondering how chickens pooped and wanted to see it happen himself." 

Mabel cracked a smile. "That's ridiculous, but it seems like him." 

Pacifica returned the expression. "Exactly. Then in January 2025, a couple of days after you guys moved into your new house, Dipper was found snooping around a chemical lab. This was when the FBI started getting really suspicious. He was almost put to jail, if it wasn't for the janitor. He said that Dipper was helping him, why he did that, I don't know. Your brother escaped that encounter because of him." 

Mabel nodded along, unsure of where the story was going. How come Dipper never told her any of this? This was _important_ —this involved the _FBI_. Didn't it occur to him that maybe she'd want to know something like this? 

Pacifica bit her lip, pausing for a moment. She looked a little unsure. "This is where it kind of gets tricky. On the twelfth of June this year, Dipper was caught in the chemical lab again, but this time, there was no janitor to save him. This time, they actually caught him trying to sneak out tubes of chemicals in his backpack. I can't remember what chemical exactly, but the FBI got pretty mad. They told him that they were going to put him in jail, right after they spoke to the government the next day. Dipper was released for the next week, but he died before he could be imprisoned." She didn't meet Mabel's eyes. Instead, she was staring out the window. "I don't know why he didn't tell you." 

Mabel shook her head. "Neither do I. Dipper tells me everything—" she choked. "Well, at least, he _used_ to." 

Her shoulders sagged, and she felt really tired. She was so confused, why didn't he tell her these things? She could have helped! She could've done something! 

Didn't he trust her anymore? 

Maybe she didn't know her brother as well as she prided herself to. 

Mabel sighed, placing her hands on her lap. She shot her friend a weak smile. "Thanks, Paz. I don't know what to do with most of this, but thanks, I guess." 

"Of course," she said, smiling. She stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Look, I've got some meeting to attend to with the police about the security measures of this town, but I'll come back later." 

Mabel's eyes brightened. "You're staying for dinner?" It was nice to have a friend over. 

Pacifica hummed in agreement. "Turns out that Soos guy of yours makes a pretty decent cook." She looked at her watch. "Well, I've got to go. See you later?" 

"Yeah," replied Mabel softly. "I'm just gonna lie down for a bit. Get some stuff together. Try to make sense of everything." 

Her friend nodded before exiting the room, footsteps getting softer and softer. 

The attic was quiet once more, and Mabel stared at the empty bed across of her. It was weird to think that this was where they used to play mini-golf when they couldn't sleep at night, or where they shot each other with water guns. 

Mabel grabbed the book Pacifica had given her, flipping through the pages once more. The same thought from earlier had passed through her mind: some words were highlighted in different colors. 

_Huh_ , she thought. _Didn't Dipper only highlight in blue? Or none at all?_

She couldn't even see blue, but as far as she could tell, none of the words were highlighted in that color. 

It couldn't be a clue. Dipper didn't want her to find him, so why would he leave her another one? Maybe it was just a code, something he'd done for himself. 

She listed them down anyway. 

(For some reason, they were all highlighted with colors she could already see. Maybe she was actually lucky this time.) 

Some far, she had: they're (green), exist (orange), aliens (red), actually (purple), and (yellow), real (pink). It was an odd sequence. 

Staring at them, Mabel wondered why they were highlighted. They didn't seem important (well, there was aliens), so why were they highlighted? 

Maybe Dipper just colored them out of boredom? That's something she would probably do. But Dipper wasn't Mabel, so that meant there was a reason behind it. 

What if they were organized in the lightest shade to the darkest? Mabel tried it, only to have the words in an even weirder order: and, real, they're, exist, actually, aliens. 

She sighed, trying to put them from darkest to lightest. It _still_ didn't make any sense. 

She started to get worried. What if it really didn't mean anything? Maybe she was just being stupid. She was running out of hope and ideas. She wasn't smart like Dipper. She didn't know how to solve this. 

But she had to. She had to find her brother. 

So what if she wasn't smart like him? So what if she didn't have a huge vocabulary like him? So what if she wasn't as logical as him? 

She wasn't Dipper and if there was one difference between them, it was this: 

Mabel was as sure as hell more creative then he was. 

She was colorful and sunshine and rainbows, and there was no way she was going down without a fight. 

Then, miraculously, she got an idea. 

What if…what if she arranged them according to the colors of the rainbow? 

Quickly, she arranged the words. Aha! It did make sense! 

Aliens (red), exist (orange), and (yellow), they're (green), actually (purple), real (pink). 

(Pink wasn't really part of the seven colors, so it was safe to assume that it was the last one, right?) 

Aliens exists and they're actually real. 

Mabel crossed her legs, wondering what to do next. Aliens? They were real? How did Dipper know that? Did he see one? Did he _meet_ one? 

Wait. Did the shapeshifter count as one? 

It seemed like any other paranormal creature in the woods and it seemed like there was no way it could be, but when she thought about it, there totally was a way. 

Then it was decided. The following day, she was going to go back into the woods. 

Mabel Pines was going into the bunker.


	8. unused bunkers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts with darkness and ends with an almost break.

Adrenaline filled her body as she climbed down the stairs of the bunker, her heart pounding with every step she took. The light from her flashlight bounced off the walls, only illuminating her path by a little bit. Mabel shivered, her blood running cold when she heard a squeak coming from the darkness behind her. 

The place was different from when she last saw it. The steps creaked more—they seemed longer than she remembered—and the walls seemed dustier. 

Finally, the steps came to an end. She raised her flashlight with a shaky hand, hoping she wouldn't have to encounter the—

A small squeak came from ahead of her in the darkness and Mabel took a step backward. 

"The shapeshifter," she whispered to herself nervously. She hoped it wasn't him. Although he had been frozen years ago, one could never be to sure. "Please don't let it be you."

If she was lucky, it would be Dipper. 

Passing through the small room with computers and shelves filled with canned food, she looked around the destroyed debris. Slowly, she made it to the room where they'd met the alien, her flashlight shaking in her hand as her footsteps echoed across the room. 

With her trusted grappling hook in her other hand, Mabel crept forward, careful to make little to no sound. Her eyes darted across the room, trying to loosen the feeling that someone was watching her. Because there wasn't. Right?

She walked to where she had last seen the shapeshifter, frozen to look like her brother. The tube came in her sight and Mabel's breath hitched, her feet becoming unmoving. She was in no hurry to see if he was alive or not. 

Each step was colder than the last. Her heart started to race, and her breathing pattern changed. She could feel the temperature inside the tube, which, really, just made her feel like she was _inside_ the tube. Unmoving, breathless, unblinking. Dead-like. 

Mabel let out a quiet sigh when she saw that the shapeshifter was still in its place. Although, it still very much scared her that it looked exactly like her brother. 

Well, when he was twelve. 

Her eyes shut, not wanting to see the horrified look on her brother's face any longer. It reminded her too much of what he'd done to her. But now was not the time to be angry at him—she was going to find him first. 

She opened her eyes once more and walked away, wanting to get as much distance away from the monster as she could. If she was Dipper, where would she be hiding?

Would he be there in the first place?

Things would've been so much easier if he'd given her a direct link to where he was. Not random clues that left her with nothing! 

Maybe if Dipper knew how much she loved him, if he knew how much she cared about him, maybe he wouldn't have left without a warning. Maybe he wouldn't have tortured her with the small talks at the funeral, or with the songs that reminded her of him. Maybe if he'd told her that he wasn't alright, she could've helped. 

(Blaming herself wasn't going to help her now, but she didn't know that. She needed to, though. Dipper didn't want that.)

* * *

Minutes later, after an endless search with no luck, Mabel placed the book on her lap, deciding that it wouldn't be too bad to read it. If Dipper was interested in it, that meant it wasn't too bad, right? 

It wasn't too long before Mabel was completely absorbed into reading the book, already have passed the first fifty pages. She could see why he loved it so much. It had mystery as a main theme, and siblings that solved cases together. Just like they did. 

Mabel paused, looking up. She had one more room to search. Standing up, she walked back to the room with a frozen creature, its eyes frozen. It was a good thing it wasn't staring at her. Nonetheless, it still felt like there was something unsettling about it. Like it didn't need eyes to watch her. 

Her steps were short and counted, eyes briefly searching throughout the room for anything that would show signs of life. That someone had been there recently. But much to her disappointment, there was none. 

She decided it was useless then. Dipper wasn't there. At least she could leave now, breathe in the sunlight. Everything seemed dead down there. 

As she climbed back up, there was a small noise behind her and Mabel couldn't remember a time she walked faster up the stairs than she did in the very moment. Breathing in the fresh air, Mabel saw that the sun was nearly gone, as she had left while it was still morning. Time ran faster than she had anticipated it to. 

The walk back to the Shack was shorter than usual, which struck Mabel as odd, but she dismissed it as nothing. 

"Hey, dawg," Soos greeted as he walked into her room, still in his suit from working all day. "How was the search?"

"He wasn't there," replied Mabel glumly, eyes downcast. She looked up at him and forced a smile. "But you can see that, considering he isn't with me right now."

"It's alright, dude," he sat down next to her, the bed shifting with his added weight, a hand of his placed on her shoulder. "You'll find him soon. Anything else interesting?"

"Well, the shapeshifter still looked like Dip Dop, still frozen," she replied, turning to look at him. 

Soos shuddered as he muttered, "Must've been terrifying."

She nodded, her eyes closing. She heard Soos sigh.

"I just want him back."

It's a whisper. She knew Soos almost missed it, his reaction coming a little after he words left her mouth. Or maybe he did it on purpose. She wouldn't know. 

After an sharp inhale and muttered words she couldn't understand, Soos spoke. "Look, dude, no one wants him back more than you do, but maybe the dude doesn't want to be found, ya know? I'm not saying you're wrong or anything for lookin' for him, but maybe you gotta take a break. You started searching not long after the funeral, and maybe you gotta rest before you continue searching. Mourn before you accept. But it's really up to you, dude." He stood up and walked to the door, leaving Mabel to sit alone on her bed. 

"We're having marshmallows and pizza for dinner, just a heads up. Melody makes the best homemade pizza," told Soos. 

She smiled. "That's a lot coming from you, Soos."

He chuckled, smiling at her before he twisted the knob and left her alone to think. 

Maybe she should take a break.

* * *

Mabel Pines sat alone on the roof of the Mystery Shack, a can of Pitt Cola resting in her hand. The night wind blew through her hair, the moon bright as ever. It kind of reminded her of a toenail. 

"I'm going on a break," she announced to no one in particular, "from the search. Soos is right. I…need time to mourn. Even if he's not dead. Just to think. Yeah. I'll do that."

And it was final. She felt proud of her decision, even if it meant she wouldn't find her brother for quite some time. She was content with the colors she could see, and she was content with knowing that Dipper was safe from the FBI, even though he hadn't told her about it. She wouldn't stop searching though, maybe in two weeks she would be able to search for him again, and maybe she could ask Soos or Pacifica to help out, and maybe she could start searching in that UFO-shaped cliff—

_Shit._

The can dropped from her hand, spilling all over her lap. Mabel gasped, instead focusing her attention on the cliffs. It was really interesting. 

Well, screw the break. She was going to investigate. 

After she cleaned up the soda, of course.


	9. triangular holes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts with sitting on a rock and ends with the end of her search.

Well. She was there. Standing on a cliff the showed her the entire town below and the two strangely-shaped cliffs above her. It weirded her out, if she was going to be honest. How come she never noticed? If Dipper knew, why didn't he tell her?

Maybe she was in the right place. Or maybe she was in the wrong place and was back to square one without realizing it. Or maybe she was stuck in that silly mind of hers, thinking she was in the right place. 

Most of her colors had returned to her when she woke up that morning, and it really was surprising. She knew that there was only one color she needed—and she missed this color a lot—and it was blue. Dipper's favorite color. This meant she was getting closer to finding him. 

Mabel was sitting on a rock—yes, it _did_ occur to her that it was the _only_ rock on that cliff—and wondered how she was supposed to find her brother. It was weird, how Dipper used to be the one to tell her that aliens didn't exist when they were younger (before they went to Gravity Falls, of course), but now here she was, trying to find him with the use of aliens. 

It was quite uncomfortable sitting on the rock, as it didn't really feel natural. Eyebrows furrowing, Mabel stood up. She pushed the rock to the side, only to reveal that there was something below. A rectangular-shaped hole lay on the grass, a ladder on one side. 

Well, she knew that rock had something off about it. 

_At least there was a ladder_ , she thought, placing her backpack onto her shoulders and gripping her grappling hook on her hand a little more firmly. She started to climb back down. 

Should she put the rock back in its place? She really didn't need this right now. What were the pros and cons? (Dipper had fused that decision-making tactic into her brain a couple of years ago to "help" her. It never really helped.)

****

**THE PROS OF CLOSING THE ROCK (MABEL DOES NOT KNOW WHY SHE IS DOING THIS):**

1\. No one else can get in.  
2\. Bird poop will not fall on her hair as she climbs down.  
3\. That's it.


****

**THE CONS OF CLOSING THE ROCK (MABEL STILL DOES NOT KNOW WHY SHE IS DOING THIS):**

1\. She might not be able to get out. (Meaning she might not be able to push the rock out.)  
2\. Bird poop might fall on her hair.  
3\. Has she mentioned she might not be able to get out?


Well. It turns out she wasn't going to close the rock. 

Mabel continued to climb down the ladder, which proved quite difficult since she was holding her grappling hook in one hand. She didn't have enough space to put it back in her backpack. Plus, if she does, losing her grip on the bars would lead to her falling—something she'd like to avoid, thank you very much. 

Strangely enough, the walls were metallic (with stains she tried very hard not to touch) and they slowly became three-sided. Where the fourth wall went, she had no idea. Who designed this place? Climbing lower, the entire place was revealed. Well, not the entire place, but a part of it. There were huge designs on the walls, alien-like ones. Mabel could see that the place was in ruins, broken and covered in stains. 

The climb wasn't very long, and Mabel soon reached the bottom within a couple of minutes, her feet landing on the ground with a soft thud. From the darkness ahead, Mabel jumped, hearing a loud crash.

Holding her grappling hook steady ahead of her—now that she thought about it, what could she even do with it? how was it going to protect her?—she kept her focus steady and walked forward slowly. This was foreign territory—she knew her way through the bunker, but this was different. 

Light streamed through the hole, providing her enough to see where she was going. There were weird writings on the wall, like some sort of code. Maybe Dipper would know what they meant. 

Soon enough, there was a large metallic pole in front of her. It seemed like there was nowhere else to go; it just ended right there, like a cliff. Huh. 

What if she went down? That was the only way, right?

Grabbing her flashlight from her backpack, Mabel shone the light to the top of the wide pole. She grinned. There was a latch where she could place her grappling hook on. Now if she just aimed properly, she could slide down. 

She got her grappling hook ready and aimed. With a satisfying click, Mabel pulled the gun to make sure it was stable. It was. 

Taking a deep breath, Mabel jumped. She felt the rush of gravity as she went down, her grip firm. She hadn't done this in a while. Her feet touched the floor in a matter of seconds, and suddenly she was engulfed in darkness. 

Her light bounced on the walls, showing her path. It seemed to be in more ruins and—wait, was that _grass_? Why the heck was there grass down there? Was that even possible? 

Mabel kept walking forward, her eyes looking at the broken columns and the writings on the wall, wondering what had happened. Maybe someone made a machine that went wrong? Or maybe someone attacked the place? 

Suddenly, she felt something vibrate in her pocket. Her hand jerked in surprise, dropping her flashlight. She quickly grabbed it back, not wanting to be left in the darkness. Turns out, the source of the vibrating was her phone. Mabel placed her grappling hook back in her backpack before answering the call. She sighed. 

"Pacifica?" she answered, hearing breathing from the other end of the line. 

"Mabel! Where are you? I've looked all over for you! Even Soos doesn't know where you are! Said you left really early in the morning," her friend's frantic voice greeted. 

"Well," she started. "I kind of sat on a rock for a couple of hours—and I mean this literally. I'm just, you know, looking for Dipper, the usual." 

"Oh," she sounded a little disappointed. 

"What's wrong?"

"I—Soos told me when I checked the Shack that you were taking a break. Thought we could go play mini-golf or something. You know, since the Lilliputtians lifted our ban when your great-uncle let them stay in the Shack during the apocalypse," Pacifica said, still sounding disappointed. 

"Sorry," Mabel said. She wondered how there even was signal down where she was. "Maybe we could go tomorrow?"

"Sure," she said, sounding happier. "Uh, BTW, how's the search going? Any luck?" 

"Nope," Mabel replied, starting to walk again. "But I'm not stopping now, you know?"

"Yeah," she said softly. "I'll call you later then?"

"Of course! Good luck with your mayor-ing!" She heard Pacifica laugh before she ended the call. 

She realized how silent the whole place was once she placed her phone back in her pocket. With all the hope left in her, she trudges forward, heading into the unknown. 

Minutes later, there's a loud _CRASH_ from ahead and Mabel stops. She doesn't know what it was because as far as she's concerned, she's the only one there. Fear gripped her and—what if it's an alien? What does she do then? She obviously didn't have anything to use as a defense. Or offense. 

She gulped, her hands shaking as she walks forward. There's fear in her heart and her lungs and she doesn't know if it's a good idea to keep going. There's a light up ahead, and if she was lucky, there would be another clue. 

Mabel continued to walk forward, arm still outstretched. Once she got closer, she saw that there was something on the floor. She crouched, staring at it. Was it a chip? Like a potato chip? It seemed fresh, too.

Did that mean someone was there? 

And then she saw it. Signs of life. There was a piece of clothing on the floor a little to her side—a shirt, she soon realized. There was also a mug on the floor. And a bottle of water. And a pair of shoes. A little more ahead, there was a table. Running forward, she looked at the table. There were papers on it, and a notebook, too. What the heck?

Looking at the papers, she saw started to read them. Wait a second. She _knew_ the handwriting. This was—

"Mabel?" 

Mabel spun around, finding the source of the voice. Her eyes widened and her heart sped up. She couldn't believe her eyes. Why, you may ask?

There were two reasons. 

The first was because she could see blue again. The last color she needed. 

The second was because standing right in front of her was the one and only Dipper Pines.


	10. selfless explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts with selfishness and ends with selflessness.

She hadn't heard his voice in so long. It even sounded quite weird. Her brother stood only a few feet away from her, eyes widened and mouth opened. Obviously, he hadn't been expecting to see her, much less for her to find him. Well, there wasn't anything he could do about her being there now. 

If anything, _she_ had the right to be shocked. Her supposedly _dead brother_ was right in front of her! She watched his body be lowered into the ground! He wasn't supposed to be alive! She shouldn't be able to see colors again, but she could! Oh, he was so going to get what he deserved. 

And that's exactly what she did. 

Mabel Pines stomped forward, and when she was near enough, did what she wanted to ever since she found out she could see pink again. 

She punched him. 

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing his arm. "What the heck, Mabel? What was that for?"

She shoved him, making him almost trip. Her fists were clenched, and she was glad that this was the part of her life where she could actually take out all her anger and sadness and loneliness. _Finally_. 

" _That_ was for leaving me, you idiot! I thought I _buried_ you in the ground! You’re supposed to be _dead_! But _no_ —you’re here and I can see the colors again and this—" she paused, her fingers digging into her hair, tears starting to stream down her face and her steps coming to a halt. She faced her brother once more, her heart breaking and falling back together at the same time because _her brother was alive and he was standing right in front of her_. She looked up at him. "I thought you were dead," she croaked out. "I thought…then I found out…I thought I could find you…Dipper, I can't believe you're alive."

She dropped to the ground, falling onto her knees. Her face was in her hands, her whole body shaking. Mabel felt Dipper next to her, wrapping an arm around her. 

"Mabel…" he said softly. "I'm sorry."

This made her look up, her eyes narrowing. "You're _sorry_? For what? For not telling me your plan to leave your sister alone, letting her think that you were dead? Or are you sorry that I found you? Which one, huh? Which one, _bro bro_? Or should I even call you that, considering you wanted to let me think you were dead for the rest of my life?" 

Dipper looked a little shocked. She could tell he wasn't expecting an answer like that and Mabel thought he deserved to have the guilt—especially with what he put her through. 

He didn't look at her. "You weren't supposed to find me."

Her eyes widened. "Did you really expect me not to? Dipper, you're my _brother_ —how could I _not_ go looking for you?"

"I hoped you wouldn't," he admitted. "Look, I know it's kinda stupid—"

" _Kinda_?" she repeated, disbelieved. Did he really think that? How shallow did he think she was?

His gaze met hers. "Alright, alright. Yeah, it _was_ a stupid plan. I just thought that—"

"That I would be okay without you? Yeah, good luck with that," she interrupted angrily. He stood up, lending her a hand, which she refused, huffing. 

"Why do you keep interrupting? I'm trying to explain here," her brother said irritatedly. 

"Really? Cause I don't hear it," she replied, crossing her arms. 

"Why are you so mad?" he asked loudly, only to meet her eyes with one eyebrow raised. He sighed, "Never mind."

Mabel sat on the table, eyes narrowed and arms still crossed. She stared at her brother. "Go. Explain. It better be a good one."

Another sigh. He took a deep breath. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for his response.

"I don't know where to start."

She rolled her eyes. "Start from why you did it. I need to know why you thought it was a good idea to leave."

"It wasn't." He smiled a little, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work. 

"Okay. Uh, did the FBI interview after the funeral?" Mabel nodded. "So I guess you know something then?"

She nodded again. "Pacifica did some digging and—"

"Wait. Pacifica knows I'm alive?" he asked, his voice a little squeaky. 

"Yeah, along with Soos and Melody and their almost-born child," she said, watching him go pale. She smirked. "They won't tell. Don't worry."

He sighed. "So yeah, the FBI were on to me. Word got out to some people and they started getting scared that I was going to start up the end of the world or something. I had to let them believe that I wasn't—not anything bad, at least—so I wouldn't go to jail. You know, that I wasn't stealing chemicals. I knew that they wouldn't stop watching me until they were completely sure. That meant I couldn't go on mystery hunts or anything. And then I—"

"Decided that faking your death was the best way, a clean profile where you could go on mystery hunts whenever you wanted without anyone on your back," she finished quietly. "It makes sense."

It was quiet after that. Mabel didn't know what to say. She wanted to strangle and hug and slap him, but she knew that it would be no use because his explanation made sense. And it was annoying. 

"I couldn't let them hurt you," he continued, his voice softer than before. "If the FBI found out you knew something, they'd take you away, too. I couldn't let that happen. I'd rather die than let them hurt you. That's why I did what I did."

Why did he have to seem selfish but actually be so selfless?

Mabel was crying again. Dammit, why was she crying? Maybe it was because she felt things a little too much. Maybe it was because Dipper really cared for her. 

"I photocopied myself using the photocopy machine, the one we used back then at the Shack. I got to redo the system to not make the photocopied object come to life, which helped me fake my death. But the colors—the reason why they faded was because I got myself into a fight with some creature on the way to this place. I nearly died, which led you to losing your colors for a bit. When I started seeing colors again, I never thought it meant it would make you look for me. I actually thought you'd dismiss it as nothing."

"I'm not that shallow, Dipper," she said sharply, causing him to wince. 

"I know," he told her softly. "I know that now and I'm sorry. I really am."

Mabel pushed herself off the table, standing up. Taking everything into consideration, she understood the things he did. It was okay. 

And so walked forward and hugged him. And he hugged back. 

"Don't ever do that again," she whispered. She hadn't stopped crying. 

"I won't."

"Okay." She smiled, letting go.

He smiled back at her, taking a deep breath. It was nice to have her brother back. 

Mabel remembered what had happened before she found her brother. "How did you find this place, anyway?"

"Oh, uh, Grunkle Ford showed it to me once," he replied, looking around as well. 

Mabel couldn't find it in her to get angry because he didn't tell her about this place sooner. That led her to think about those clues he'd left her. 

"Dipper, those clues, the ones in your journal and in the ceiling of my room—how did you know I would find them?" she asked, wiping her eyes. 

"I had to make sure they were clues that only you would be able to understand. Creative stuff."

"Was it a challenge?" she teased, watching his cheeks turn slightly pink. 

He turned to look at her directly. "First of all, no, it wasn't. Secondly, shut up." 

She laughed, feeling relief wash over. No matter what, she was glad to have her brother back. It didn't matter how many times she would say it; the feeling would always be welcome.

* * *

"So," she started, sipping her Pitt Cola. 

"So," he repeated, smiling a little. 

"How are you coming back?" she asked, looking at him. 

He looked a little startled. "What?"

"You know, coming back. To live with me. In our house. You can't live on canned food and sodas forever, Dipper. You, of all people, should know that."

Dipper looked unsure, biting his lip. "I can't go back. You know that too. I'm dead, Mabel. Even if I do go back, I can't go outside."

That's when she started to panic. "You have to go back! I can't live without you! You're my best friend! We could—you could—we'll find a way! Dipper, we've gone through worse!" she exclaimed, standing up. "I can't…I can't go through it again, knowing you're alive but not being with you."

"Mabel…" he said softly, placing an arm over her shoulders. 

"I _can't_ , Dipper. I won't." There was no way in _hell_ she was going to go through it again. She was leaving with her brother, whether he wanted to or not. 

"But there's no way—"

"There has to be! I'll find one! I will! Just—you can't—I won't let you stay here alone!" she shouted, standing up with her knees shaking. "At least stay in the Shack," she whispered. "Soos and Melody will let you stay there. I know they will. And you can even go outside! No one in Gravity Falls even knows you died! Just—"

"Mabel, that's it!" he blurted out suddenly, placing his hands on her shoulders. He grinned. "You can live in the Shack too! With me! And Soos and Melody! And wait—did you say that they had a child?"

"Yeah," she answered, now smiling. But would their plan actually work? It was risky, especially if the FBI found out. But maybe if they were lucky—

"Hey, like you said, we'll make it work," Dipper reassured her, giving her a warm smile. 

"Okay."

* * *

After a large hug and grin from both Soos and Melody, Mabel was happy to enter the attic not alone, but with her brother right next to her. 

"It feels like we came to Gravity Falls for the first time again," Dipper told her, dropping his bag onto his old bed. 

Mabel nodded, sitting down on her own bed. "All we need now are splinters and a goat."

He laughed, settling into his own bed. "Soos really said we could live here?" 

"Yup," she agreed. "He was really excited about it, too. Melody's cool with it, so we're good."

"When are you going back to Piedmont? To get all your—I mean all _our_ stuff?" 

"Yes," she answered, lying down. "And what's with all the questions? You need to relax, Dip N' Dot."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Dipper rolled his eyes. "I'm just—I'm actually happy you found me. Even though you can be annoying sometimes."

Mabel was about to open her mouth to protest when he interrupted her. Of course, it was a question. 

"Hey, do you hear that?" he asked, standing up. "Someone's coming up."

He was right. The floorboards creaked a little, and she could feel the vibration of someone's steps. She wondered who it was. Soos was out at the gift shop restocking and Melody was cooking dinner. 

The door opened, a voice and a person coming through. Mabel recognized the voice before she even came in the room. 

Pacifica pushed the door, coming into view. "Hey, Mabel, I just wondering if—" she paused suddenly, her eyes landing on Dipper. "Shit. Dipper. You're alive." She was breathing rapidly and her mouth hung open. She blinked, then realized what was happening (at least that's what Mabel thought).

"You're alive!" Pacifica ran forward, hugging Dipper, making him lose his balance and fall on the bed. Mabel laughed, watching her best friend and brother fall onto the bed. 

Pacifica got up again, helping Dipper up. Then she punched him in the arm, earning a smile from Mabel. 

"What is with everyone punching me today?" he whined, rubbing his arm. Both of the girls laughed. 

"That was for scaring the absolute shit out of me. I," she turned to look at Mabel. "I mean, we thought you were dead."

Then she kissed him on the cheek. "And that," she said, grinning as Dipper turned red. "That was for still being alive."

"And I thought Mabel was emotional," he muttered, still very red as he rubbed his arm. 

"Don't do that again or you're dead," Pacifica threatened. Mabel smiled. 

"I think he's learned his lesson, Paz," she said, swinging her legs. "Besides, I'll make sure he doesn't do it again."

"I'm guessing all your colors are back?" the blonde asked, sitting down next to her. She nodded. 

"Pacifica, I don't know how to break it to you, but you're going to have one more resident in your town," she said, grinning a little. 

"Make that two," Dipper added. "Well, it kinda still is one since I'm technically dead."

"You mean—" she turned to look at Dipper. "You're going to live here? In the Shack?"

"Yup," said Mabel. "And with your mayor duties and the Mystery Twins running the Shack, the economy of this town is gonna be awesome!"

"Wait, what? We're going to run the Shack? What about Soos?" Dipper asked, looking a bit panicked. 

"Relax, Dip. Soos and Melody are going to Portland for a couple of weeks and they asked if we could take over. You know, so they don't have to close down the Mystery Shack while they're gone," Mabel explained, untying her hair. 

"And you didn't tell me earlier because…? You didn't even let me agree to it!" he exclaimed, raising his eyebrow. 

"Well, if I asked you, would you agree to it?" she countered, placing her hands on her hips. 

"Yes," he admitted. 

"See? I'm amazing," she said proudly. Pacifica laughed. 

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Mabel." He lied down on his bed. "Paz, are you staying for dinner?"

"Yeah. Soos makes great pancakes. Especially at night," she said, standing up. 

"Pancakes at night?" Dipper asked. "What did I get myself into?"

Mabel opened her mouth to retort when Dipper gave her a stern look. 

"Don't even try," he warned.

She laughed anyway, throwing her head back. Pacifica smiled. 

"It's really nice to have you back. Both of you," said Pacifica.

Mabel grinned. It was great to have her brother back. No matter how annoying he could be, she wouldn't trade the feeling for anything in the world.


	11. epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It ends with happiness.

**TWO MONTHS LATER**

It's a little hard to forget the first time you see colors. For most people, they actually get to remember most of it and they're able to remember what a world without color was like. For Mabel, five minutes was what she got. Five minutes of her entire life.

Oh, and the two days she thought her brother was dead. 

But everything was okay now because her brother was standing next to her as she blew the candles on top of their cake to celebrate their twenty-sixth birthday. Everything was okay now because she was surrounded by a few friends (the ones that knew Dipper was alive—Pacifica, Soos, Melody, Wendy) who were smiling and singing. Everything was okay because Mabel Pines had her soulmate back. 

"Happy birthday, you guys!" Wendy exclaimed, hugging the both of them. She'd come back in town just to celebrate their birthday and had almost hugged Dipper to death when she found out he was actually alive. It was hilarious. 

Soos and Melody were leaving the next day for Portland, meaning that she and her brother would take over the Shack. Mabel knew Dipper was as excited as she was. 

"How many times do I have to tell you to open your gifts already? I spent months planning on what to give!" complained Pacifica, although the grin on her face told them otherwise. 

"Take a chill pill, Pacifica," Mabel told her, laughing. "We'll open them, don't worry."

They grabbed their gifts from the table, settling on the couch with eyes filled with wonder and never-ending grins. Mabel wondered what it was. In front of her was a small box, wrapped in purple. Carefully, she undid the wrapping, only for it to reveal a tiny dark blue box—the kind where you kept jewelry. She opened the lid, finding a necklace. Lifting it up, the necklace had a silver chain with a glittery shooting star as the pendant. 

Mabel stood up. "Pacifica…" she trailed, watching her friend's smile drop by a little. She ran forward and hugged her, taking Pacifica by surprise. "It's amazing! Thank you!"

"I'm glad you like it," Pacifica replied. "It wasn't very easy to find."

"You're the best," she said, putting on the necklace. 

"I know." That earned a laugh. 

"Unbelievable," Mabel heard her brother say. She turned to look at him. He was staring at his own gift, a book. He was flipping through the pages, his eyes widened. Dipper looked up to look at Pacifica. "You got me a _signed_ copy of _The Paranormal and Where to Find Them_?"

Pacifica nodded slowly. "Do you—do you like it?"

"Like it?" he asked standing up. "This is amazing!" Dipper wrapped his arms around her. "Thank you."

Pacifica smiled, looking at the both of them. "Anything for my best friends." 

They continued opening gifts after that, more smiles and hugs coming along as time passed. Mabel got a new set of paint brushes from Wendy and a watch from Soos and Melody. She'd even gotten a bracelet from Gideon, who heard she was in town but couldn't make it to the party. 

But there was one thing she couldn't wait for—her gift for her brother. She spent days working on it—it was hard enough that she had to make sure Dipper didn't see it—and she hoped he would like it. 

She ran upstairs, grabbing the wrapped gift from under her mattress, hiding it from him. From all the things she'd ever made, this gift was her favorite. 

It was wrapped in blue, her brother's name scribbled on the front in her handwriting. It wasn't very big, either. She knew he wouldn't mind. 

"Here," she said, a little breathless from running up and down the stairs. Mabel handed the gift over to her brother who looked at her with a smile. "Happy birthday, Dip."

He tore through the wrapping, his eyes snapping up to look at her when he realized what it was. "A scrapbook?" he asked. 

"Go through it," she told him excitedly. "Go on."

And so he did. He found out what it was eventually—a scrapbook of the two of them. Laughing, smiling, talking. She got every photo she could of the two of them (which, surprisingly, were a lot).

"It's so you don't forget. You know, so you don't make another stupid decision where you leave—" she tried to explain before she was cut off by her brother wrapping his arms around her. 

"Thanks, Mabel," he told her. "And I won't forget or leave, I promise."

"Good."

Dipper grinned at her. "Now it's my turn."

"What is it?" she asked, looking around the room. All of the gifts were already open. 

Soos came over, smiling. All of her friends were smiling, too. Did they all know what his gift was? Soos handed her a piece of cloth. "It's a blindfold, dude. You gotta put it on. This is gonna be good!"

Dipper tied the blindfold and Mabel was suddenly engulfed in darkness. She couldn't see a thing. 

"Why?" she asked. "This better be good, Dipper."

"Oh, it is, Mabel. It is," he replied. She could only imagine him grinning mischievously. 

They led her forward, careful to make sure she didn't fall or anything (although she did trip a few times). Somewhere along the way, they led her through a staircase. That meant they were going to the basement, right? Where the broken portal was? That had to be it. But why?

"Okay," Dipper said. "We're here. I'm going to take off your blindfold."

When she didn't feel him touch the cloth, she replied. "Dipper? You still there?"

"I'm right here next to you," his voice said, grabbing her hand. "I'm not leaving, remember?" 

She felt him unfold the cloth. "You ready?" he asked. 

She grinned. "I was born ready. Bring it on, Dipper."

And so the cloth was out of her eyes and _holy shit—this was not what she was expecting._

In front of her was a brightly lit room, looking nowhere like the old room she was used to seeing. But that wasn't what surprised her. 

What surprised her was that all her artworks—her paintings, drawings, some of the old sweaters that no longer fit her—were placed in that room with a banner hanging on top that spelled out the words: MABEL'S GUIDE TO ART.

She turned to look at her brother. "You…you did this?" 

He shrugged. "I had some help," he gestured to everyone who was behind him. They were grinning. 

"This is amazing, Dipper! Is it really going to be an attraction at the Shack?" 

He nodded. "I think you deserve it. You've always wanted something like this, so I thought this was the best way to do that."

Mabel threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "You're definitely my favorite brother now."

"Was there ever any doubt?" 

"Actually," she teased. He frowned. "I'm kidding! Jeez, Dipper. You're my favorite brother. Person. Whatever you want, no matter what."

He grinned at that, squeezing her hand. 

"Let's go look at the artworks!" she exclaimed excitedly, dragging him along. 

It was nice—being happy. Being with her brother. Being with all her friends, people she treated like family. It was great. 

But she knew what it all led down to. In the end, she'd do it all again. She'd repeat every suffering she'd been through, every complication, every inch of pain—as long as it meant she got her brother back. She didn't think he was her best friend because he was. They weren't always going to be alright, but that was okay. For now, it was all she needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmu at superishs.tumblr.com!!

**Author's Note:**

> hmu at superishs.tumblr.com!!


End file.
